Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-27
RAMBLES ABOUT EUROPE.
From England to Egypt and the Holy
Land Especially for the Eagle
NO. XXXIII.
PORT SAID, Egypt, Oct. %, 18S

/ here worth visiting, VIII ask you TO go
! back with me to Jerusalem, and bear me
imaginary company from thence to
/ Jericho, the Jordan and the Dead Sea.
There is no joke about the desire for
company, as the trip to be accomplished
on horseback is absolutely too severe for
any woman unless she has the cOnstitu-
ton and nerve Of an Amazon, and par
ticularly would this apply at the present
time, because of the great heat prevail
ing. 1t SO happened that no other man
cared to make the trip just at this time,
but with me it was now or never.
| set out at O'Clock in the morning
| with my dragoman, a cook and the
Young Arab who served as conductor of
the pack train, which consisted of one
poor forlorn donkey. At Bethany our
force was increased by the addition of a
Bedouin guard, armed with an old shot
gun and dilapidated sabre that must
have seen service in the days of the
crusade 1t was what Colonel Bill
Phillips used to call q scimetar. The
descent from Bethany to the Apostles
well is by sharp turns of a perpendicular
character and road bed covered with
loose and jagged stones, rendering
progression both slow and unsafe,
especially when made in the dark. About
half way down we encountered string
of camels toiling up the hill, but so noise
lessly was their approach, by reason of
their cushioned feet which gave no sound
of warning, that my pony instantly took
alright and sprang up the entertainment
on the top Of some huge bOulders. [
think l was worse scared than the horse,
but the muleteer came to my relief and
led the pony, quivering in every limb,
back into the road. If there is anything
calculated to give alright to a ''skeery''
animal i; is the weird-like sudden APP
proach Of troop Of camels loaded with
huge bales or bundles of brush wood,
when the night is dark, and the stars
lend just sufficient light to magnify
moving objects into ghost-like appari-
tons. | think my pony received nerv-
Gus shock that will get him into trouble,
and perhaps be the death of him. To
his excited fancy little donkey carry
ing load bigger than himself was a
''spOok, and discerning it long ways
off, when the nature of the landscape adj
mitted such thing, he would prick up
his ears, whisk his tail and prance side
ways like hog going to war. | have a
spite against him for he came near I'M
horseing me three different times, and |
have no desire in particular to initiate
Gen. Lew Wallace when at Jerusalem.
This was told me by a Turk
ish General. He said Wal
lace wanted to ride favOrite
horse OF his, priding himself much on
the equestrian skill he had acquired in
the army. They were riding together
near the tomb of Rachel, when his lord
ship the Arabian stallion. began to step
high and put on airs. The general, like
myself. found his seat not so firm as
when younger and in practice. The
Turkish generals eyes twinkled as he re-
lated how he had picked him up, and if
his acquaintance with Shakespeare had
been at all familiar, doubtless he would
have exclaimed ''Oh. waterfall was
there my countryman." The United
States consul also relates sad accident
that befeIl an English officer The pony
spilled him off and badly fractured his
these mishaps until after the pony and l
had parted company.
The Apostles well also called by other
nameS) is at the foot of the elevation
which, if followed to its summit. leads to
tliC liOlltlt VI OIINtS lIlIOltOil ItliltIiN. L
have before stated that Luke describes
the ascension of Christ as from the latter
place, seemingly to contradict the ac-
count given by him in the first chapter
of Acts. which intimateS that it was in
Mount OLvet. The two localities are.
however. within one mile Of each other.
From the well to JeriCho-a distance of
nineteen mileS-there is no water to be
found. nor any signs of habitation except
a lonely Kahn called the half way house,
where q solitary individual ekes out a
scanty subsistence by the meagre pay he
receives as keeper of a corral. Near
this place, a legend locates the scene of
the parable of the Good Samaritan.
BY this time day has dawned. but we
still climb the chalky cliffs and descend
deeper and deeper into that valley whose
level lies twelve hundred feet lower
than that of the Mediterranean Sea, or
what Is known generally speaking as the
sea level. These mountains that we are
trying 10 get off of are the Mountains Of
judah and Benjamin. so called because
they were included within the limits of i
the inheritance given to those to tribes
when Joshua parcelled out the land. As .
an offset to the barrennesS of this terri +
tory they were given a large strip of the .
plain of Jericho. or valley of the Jordan .
On the east. and the Mediterranean coast (
0n the west. which if properly cult .
7ated, even now. would literally. as we'll .
3 tiguratively. be land flowing with .
milk and honey. Toward the close of .
)Ur days journey the dragoman calls /
my attention to a narrow ribbon of .
green. visible between the preCipitous
wall of a canon. more than five hundred
ieet below where | stand There Is the
5ilStenlng of small pools of water showing
nat here was a natural water course.
This Is the brook Cherith. where Elijah
himself and was fed by the
'avens. OF this there Is no doubt 1t
with the Bible account. and
he ravens were there Just as they must
nave been when the Prophet of old sup
posed that he was the only one o. Gods
servants that bad escaped the hatred of
| oaCkslidden king. Hide thvself by
ne brook CherIth. that Is before Jordan
md It shall be that thou shalt drink OF
ne brook; and | have commanded the
avenS 10 feed thee The descent from
lere 10 the plain of Jericho Is very alb
upt and stony. The sun was becoming
very moment hotter. the umbrella
heavier and the pony slower in his move
nents-except when he scented a camel.
which was of frequent occurrence. when
us pace was Sidewise but did not in the
east accelerate Our speed onward. These
teep places are all terraced and there Is
lot . shovelfull OF earth on any Of them
he offsets occur very often al intervals
# say twenty feet. When my pony
anne TO one of them he halted Tor sec
nd. then let both front feet Down at
nee. gave a kind of jump and came :
own solid on all fours. The sensation
0 the rider was that OF having the ter